


you look so pretty (and i love this view)

by amessofgaywords



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: F/F, a brief appearance of hannah, almost almost canon compliant, and jamie is so here for it, damie although it's pre-relationship, damie sharing cigarettes is my new passion, dani: the gay mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27896323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amessofgaywords/pseuds/amessofgaywords
Summary: All told, Dani needs a break, which has led her out here to the back section of the roof, which is accessible via the attic stairs and some climbing. And Jamie is already out here. Which both ensures Dani will get no peace and also ensures her heart will start beating way too fast to be healthy.or dani, jamie, a roof, a cigarette, and some get-to-know-you time.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 9
Kudos: 159





	you look so pretty (and i love this view)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back! with fluff this time! i was listening to girl in red and, well, i'm just still stuck on that two second clip from the scene in owen's restaurant where dani and jamie share a cigarette. so.
> 
> title from we fell in love in october by girl in red.

Working at Bly is like some sort of miracle. A picturesque house, out in the countryside, clean air and the sun rising every morning. Two exceptional children, a kind housekeeper and an endearing cook, and a… and the gardener for company. Dani’s days are full and her smiles are wide and every morning she wakes up more and more refreshed. Life is good. For once she can say that and mean it with every inch of her body.

And Dani _loves_ kids. She loves them. So, so much, and she loves working with them, all day every day seeing them smile and learn things… gosh, she really does love her job.

Most of the time, all the time she loves her job. About five percent of the time, she just wants to sleep. Like, well, like right now. It’s just been a long day, is all. And then her _mother_ called, and that, well, that never ends well. 

All told, Dani needs a cup of coffee or a sedative or… something. A break, at least, which has led her out here to… well, to the back section of the roof, which is accessible via the attic stairs and some climbing. And Jamie is already out here. Which both ensures Dani will get no peace and also ensures her heart will start beating _way_ too fast to be healthy.

“Oi, should I sic Miss Clayton on your-” Jamie turns her head to the side and catches Dani’s sweater clad arm waving at her. Maybe a little too eagerly. “Oh. Just you, Poppins.”

“What, did you think I was Miles?” Dani questions, coming over to sit beside her. Jamie’s got one leg hiked up, her arm draped over her knee and a cigarette dangling from her fingers. Confident, beautiful Jamie. Jamie sitting _way_ too close to the edge of the roof, but Dani sits down next to her so what does that mean, really?

Jamie flicks a bit of ash off of her cigarette; it falls down the roof and Dani watches it go. “Actually, yeah. Little shit keeps sneaking up here when he thinks no one’s looking. Don’t he know it’s my smoke spot?” This is said with just enough good nature that Dani knows Jamie’s joking, at least about that threat she almost made earlier. Jamie’s patient, Jamie’s kind, Jamie cares. Dani likes knowing these things. She feels comfortable knowing these things.

She doesn’t feel comfortable with the way her palms are starting to sweat or her mouth is going dry at Jamie’s hair ruffling in the wind, her flannel slipped off of her left shoulder to reveal smooth, freckled skin.

“At least you’re not smoking around the kids. Or Hannah.” Dani shudders at the thought. Jamie lets out a little scoff and scrapes her work boot against the concrete of the roof. A curious look in her eye. She licks her lips and offers Dani the cigarette.

And she shouldn’t. She hasn’t, not since college, when Eddie wasn’t around and her and Donna Green would hang out behind the Social Sciences building on campus between classes. Jamie’s the exact opposite of Donna Green, not a cardigan or headband or pressed portfolio folder in sight, but Dani’s pulse flutters the same anyway. She takes the cigarette. She’ll do some mouthwash before dinner and it will be fine.

If Jamie is impressed, or not expecting it, she doesn’t say anything. After Dani’s first long drag – she doesn’t cough, turns out smoking is like riding a bike – Jamie digs a pack of Bowlines and an old-school lighter out of her overalls pocket and hands it over. Dani lights her own and they sit like that for a few seconds. She breathes smoke and Jamie.

Jamie clears her throat and side-eyes Dani, flicking ash off of the roof. “Kids running you ragged yet?”

Dani snorts. “It’s only been a few weeks.”

Jamie shrugs. “Well, if anyone can handle the little rascals, it’s you.” Another strangled cough. “Hannah’s endless patience notwithstanding.”

“Nah, I think… I think you’re pretty patient too. With the kids, sometimes.”

“Yeah, these two aren’t bad. I mean, I don’t have the best track record with little ones, if ‘m honest.” Jamie takes a drag, squints out at the horizon. “Too often I find ‘em staring at me. In that unpleasant way they’ve got, like they’re just calculating every way they’ve got to find your weak spots. Gives me the shudders. I’m not mad for it.”

That gets Dani laughing, properly laughing, bent in half and it devolves into a coughing fit as she inhales stale cigarette smoke. Jamie seems amused by her reaction, reaching a hand over to rub Dani’s back. Warmth radiates out from the point Jamie’s fingers connect with Dani’s sweater, and she blushes. “S’alright?” Jamie’s face is nothing but kind, and Dani, well. She’s just very nice, that’s all.

“Good. I’m good.” Dani wants water, if only to wet her throat again. Jamie’s making all of her senses go a little crazy. “Um, you are good with the kids though. Even if… I get what you mean.” A sly smile creeps over Jamie’s face. “With the calculating and all.”

“See? Wisdom coming from this mouth, Poppins. You’d best be paying attention, lest you get snatched in the night by two ‘orrible goblins.” Jamie clears her throat. Dani knows by now that this indicates a topic shift. “Been meaning to ask you, actually. Why’d you, uh, why’d you end up out here, then?”

There’s a lot of answers to that question. _I was tired. I was scared. I was running from something. I was running to something, I just didn’t know it until I got here._ In the end, Dani settles for the easiest answer. The simplest one. “I had a fiancé, back in Iowa. But it kind of… ended. I just needed to get away for a little while.” She shrugs, toying with the cigarette burning down between her fingers. “I figured, well, England’s a change. And then when the sightseeing got boring, I went looking for a job.”

Jamie hums. “London gets like that, after a time.”

“You lived in London?” Dani feels like she knows so little about Jamie, any little glimpse gets her perked up. Or maybe she’s just tuned to the Jamie station all the time, extra jumpy. But Jamie doesn’t seem like she wants to answer that question, and Dani can tell, and Dani doesn’t want to push her too far yet, so. “Yeah, it’s something. Um, I was going to go for a teacher position at a primary school or something like that, but there’s a whole certification process and it’s too much. This was… much simpler. And I thought, you know. Maybe I could find something good here. Somewhere I could belong, not like back home where I didn’t belong… anywhere. You know, Iowa's a lot of cornfields. A lot of expectations. Things I didn't necessarily... want."

"They get suffocating, those expectations."

"They do," Dani breathes, and, well. Jamie sees her. Doesn't turn her into a Magic 8-Ball prediction with a swollen stomach and a duster in hand, the way _some_ people did. Jamie sees a girl in a sweater holding the past somewhere inside her chest and she's okay with it. And she realizes:

In an effort to alleviate Jamie’s need to answer personal questions, Dani’s gone and spilled half of her life story in what feels like about two seconds. Dani’s used to not functioning exactly properly around pretty women, just like she’s used to hiding those symptoms under the guise of _polite young lady_ and just… not talking. Jamie turns everything on its head, like always. Dani wants to talk around her. And Jamie seems to want to listen.

“I know what that’s like,” she offers up. Jamie’s turned her body, cigarette burnt down and abandoned on the roof and her legs crossed. Her wrists hang loosely over them and she grins. Slowly, bitterly, but she grins. It sets butterflies, fireflies, zipping through Dani’s whole body. “Believe me, Hannah, Owen, even the bloody kids can do a good job of making a person feel at home.”

“When did you come here?” Dani turns to face Jamie as well, tucking her legs under her and sitting sideways. Maybe she’s looking at Jamie’s lips a _little_ too much. Maybe she should play it much cooler than this, but who _really_ cares?

“Come to Bly?” Jamie blows a strand of hair out of her face as she thinks. “Just past four years ago now. I think. It’s been steady for a bit, I guess.” She walks her fingers back and forth across the roof, not meeting Dani’s eyes. “I was rough back then. Took a bit to get me settled down, but Hannah, Charlotte too… got a way of softenin’ people up.” A fond smile crosses her face. “Let’s talk about something else, yeah?”

“Of course.” That’s another thing Dani likes about Jamie. She doesn’t lie. So many people Dani has known have lied. _She’s_ lied, but Jamie’s easy honesty is refreshing. “Um… got a favorite movie?”

Jamie makes a face. “Don’t watch a lot of films.” Dani’s face falls, and Jamie takes pity on her. “But… I do read. A bit, actually.”

“Really? Me too.”

“And, uh, I’ve seen a couple a’ things. I like _The Shining._ And, uh. _Dune._ That’s a good one.”

“Huh.” Dani’s never seen _Dune,_ and she always thought _The Shining_ was too scary. But she’ll see them now. If Jamie wants her to. “Yeah. Uh, _Breakfast Club_?”

“I like Simple Minds,” Jamie offers. “I like _The Outsiders_ better." Dani hums in agreement.

"You read a lot?"

Jamie shrugs, scraping her fingernails along the roof. "Often enough. You read _The Bell Jar_? _The Talented Mr. Ripley_?”

“Yes and yes,” Dani breathes. “Oh, I love _Mr. Ripley._ How about _The Price of Salt_?” It takes Dani a tenth of a second to realize what she’s asked, and it’s only when a smirk flicks over Jamie’s lips that it really settles in. She’s about to open her mouth to say _something_ to clarify when-

“Gee, Poppins, subtle you are not.” Jamie leans in close, a smile playing on her lips and something _new_ in her eyes. “Yes, I have read _The Price of Salt._ ”

“Okay.” Nothing better to say. Dani’s a little breathless from Jamie being so close. “Uh, _The Color Purple_?”

“That too.” Jamie leans away, throwing her head back to let the last bits of sun crossing the sky fall on her face. To Dani, she’s radiant. “And _Rubyfruit Jungle,_ if you’re curious. Guess if we’re crossing off the list.”

To be fair, it’s not like _Dani’s_ crossed off the list. Blame Donna Green and her extensive literary knowledge, and the weekend Eddie went off on a camping trip and Dani had the house to herself. She never would have had the guts to even call the library otherwise. But she used to be braver, and stronger, once upon a time.

Now, with Jamie here beside her. She feels like being brave again.

Slowly, so slowly it almost isn’t happening, Dani inches her pinkie over to Jamie’s hand. She slides their fingers under each other, so Jamie’s hand is resting on top of hers, some of their fingers intertwined. She squeezes a little, and Jamie bites her lip, shaking her head.

It gives her another burst of courage. She lifts their joined hands, twisting them so Jamie’s palm is open to her, and Jamie lets her. Dani feels about thirteen years old again, like a teenager with a crush, like she did the first time Jamie and her held hands this way.

She traces her fingers over Jamie’s calluses and scars, marks of a life not-so-well lived, but lived nonetheless. The freckles on Jamie’s hands, her wrist. A small, black mark, small enough that Dani hadn’t noticed it before. A tattoo, on her upper wrist, pointing towards the inside of her arm. A heart held by two hands, topped by a crown.

It’s a claddagh ring, and it gives Dani stupid ideas. Stupid, too-soon ideas. Maybe Christmas. Maybe Jamie’s birthday. Maybe forever from now, if Dani can actually get her act together long enough to ask this girl out.

Jamie clears her throat and a second later, Hannah is appearing at the door coming from the attic. “Oh, there you two are. Owen’s started on dinner and we’ll be eating soon. The children are finishing up their reading, Miss Clayton.” The words are admonishing, but Hannah’s tone is anything but. She doesn’t even seem to mind the cigarette butts scattered around them. Dani jumps to her feet, dropping Jamie’s hand, and she pulls it back sheepishly.

Hannah disappears with a look that’s a little too knowing. Jamie offers Dani a wry smile, almost disappointed. “Right. Back to it, then.” The corner of her mouth pulls up. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you at dinner, Poppins.”

She heads off down the roof, hands in her pockets with an easy light step. Dani almost reaches out, pulls her by her wrist, pulls her in close and kisses her, but she doesn’t.

There are other afternoons. There will be other afternoons. They have all the time in the world, after all. All the time Bly has to offer.

**Author's Note:**

> lesbians talking about books, aka my entire brand.
> 
> come yell at me @amessofgaywords on twitter.


End file.
